Helen M. Alquist, 86, of Cherokee, Iowa, passed away on Nov. 8, 2008, in the Cherokee Regional Medical Center. Funeral services were held on Nov. 11, 2008, at Bethlehem Lutheran Church in Cherokee. Pastor Jim Steen and Pastor Erik Gronberg officiated. Burial was held in the Oak Hill Cemetery at Cherokee. There will be a family prayer service at 2:15 p.m. at the church on Tuesday. Boothby Funeral Home in Cherokee was in charge of funeral arrangements. Online condolences can be left at www.boothbyfuneral.com.

Helen Marie (Nelson) Alquist was born on Jan. 5, 1922, to John and Judith (Johanson) Nelson at Holstein. She attended country schools and then graduated from Wilson High School in 1939. On April 21, 1942 Helen married Clarence P. Alquist at Bethlehem Lutheran. After their marriage, Helen and Clarence lived in Cherokee. Helen worked as a telephone operator/supervisor in Cherokee and in the office staff at Christensen Brothers Construction in Cherokee.

In 1950, Helen and Clarence moved to Afton Township where she was a farm wife with her husband on the family farm, and where they raised their three children. They retired from active farming in 1975, but lived on the farm until they moved to Cherokee in 1995. Helen moved to The Beck in Cherokee in October of 2000, living there until her recent illness.

Helen was a life-long member of the Bethlehem Lutheran Church in Cherokee where she was baptized on June 18, 1922 and was later confirmed. She was also an active member of the Lutheran Church Women. During her years on the farm, she was a member of several Afton Township Community Clubs.

She was preceded in death by her parents and her husband Clarence on Nov. 22, 1996,

Survivors include her three children: Shirley Harris and her husband Larry of Green Valley, Ariz.; Dr. Larry Alquist and his wife Jane of Hampton; Connie Mohn and her husband Jim of Cherokee; six grandchildren: Chad Harris of Kansas City, Mo.; Kelli Harris of Leawood, Kan.; Betsy Murray and her husband John of Lee Summit, Mo.; Michelle Alquist of Hampton; Kendra Mohn and her husband Erik Gronberg of Delafield, Wis.; and Alicia Mohn of Milwaukee, Wis.; two great-grandchildren, Annika Christine Marie Gronberg and Brett Nelson Murray; several nieces and nephews, a number of cousins in Sweden and friends from Church and The Beck.